A Dish Best Served Cold
by Sarge1
Summary: He was put into prison by the CSI: Miami team, but now he's out...and he wants revenge. (This is my first CSI: Miami fic! PLEASE RR!)
1. Go On! Take the Weekend Off!

Disclaimer: They're not mine.but wouldn't it be cool if they were? I mean, can you imagine.*drifts off into lala land*  
  
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A triple homicide outside of a gay bar, a bank robbery gone wrong, a person murdered by means of a highly trained pitbull, and a twelve year old boy hit by a stray bullet that had been shot during a gang war. These were all cases given to the hard working CSI team of the Miami-Dade police department and they were all recently solved.  
  
The triple homicide had been committed by a disgruntled teen whose father had left the boy's mother for a man. The perpetrators in the bank robbery that had ended up taking the lives of two innocent people had been caught after the weapon used to kill them had been recovered with needed prints to put the bad guys away. After locating the dog from the next case, the team tracked down his trainer and questioned him, but in the end, they ultimately found out that it had been the trainer's assistant who had sent the dog after the victim. Finally, the team tracked down the gun out of whose barrel had shot the stray bullet that had killed the twelve year old boy, and they traced it back to a ring of cocaine smugglers. Then with the help of the Feds, the team was able to take the whole ring down.  
  
This was the first time in a little over two weeks that the team actually had a break in their case load and it couldn't have come any sooner. The whole team had been working non-stop on their last cases and now they were positively exhausted. Eric Delko looked as if he was going to fall over at any minute, Tim Speedle's usually carefree appearance now seemed to look more like death warmed over, Alexx Woods' eyes were bloodshot and her shoulders now seemed to be permanently slumped, and even the normally cheerful and overly energetic Calleigh Duquesne looked as if she were going to pass out.  
  
The only one of the team who looked even remotely with it was Horatio Caine. No one knew how he managed to work so hard and for so long without showing even the tiniest sign of fatigue. They often joked about it, saying that he was either taking drugs or he was an alien and sometimes, they would even call him "Energizer" like the bunny just for a laugh, but even if they didn't know the secret of his eternal energy, he did. Every new case they got seemed to cause caches of vim and vigor to surface within Horatio, enabling him to just keep going. He figured that the overwhelming drive and desire he had to catch the bad guys was what kept his inexhaustible juices flowing and he was quite thankful for the way he was. No, he wasn't hyper energetic like Calleigh, but what he did have helped him outlast everyone including the plucky little blonde ballistics expert.  
  
Horatio realized how hard his team worked over the past few weeks. He knew that they always gave at least 110% every time they walked into the lab, but what they had done recently had been above and beyond what he would have called for. They all had spent many nights at the lab working the evidence from the various crime scenes. They neglected their personal needs such as food, sleep, and family time just to get the job done and while Horatio didn't like that his people were running themselves ragged, he did truly appreciate their utter dedication to getting done what they needed to do.  
  
Being that crime didn't take a holiday, Horatio decided that since the world, or at least Miami, seemed to be having a moment of amity, he would allow his team to forgo working the lesser cases they had been assigned and take the weekend off. Delko and Speedle jumped at the chance to be able to just crash for two days and Alexx was happy to simply home to her family, but Calleigh was a different story. As soon as Horatio had told everyone to go home and rest, she watched everyone else leave and then headed back to the lab she had been working in before she had been told that they had the weekend off. She was in the middle of processing some evidence for a small case and she wasn't about to go home until it was done. Besides, it's not like she had anything to do at her apartment anyway.  
  
A few hours after telling his people to go home, Horatio had just finished all the paperwork he needed to get done and was ready to go home himself. Packing up some extra work to do in case he got too bored at his place, he turned off the lights in his office and shut the door behind him. He had something he needed to drop off in the computer lab before he left so he immediately headed there. As soon as he stepped foot inside that specific lab, he stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at the scene before him.  
  
There, arms next to the keyboard of one computer and head resting on her arms, was Calleigh Duquesne. She had undoubtedly fallen asleep while working on mapping out bullet trajectories from the latest case she was working on.  
  
Horatio just stood there for a little bit watching her as she slept. He knew she was worn out and had actually thought she had gone home, but that obviously wasn't the case. Shaking his head, he set down the folder he was dropping off and his briefcase on the closest table before quietly walking over to Calleigh. He reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle shake to wake her. "Calleigh," he said softly.  
  
The blonde's eyes immediately shot open and she sat up in her chair. She looked at Horatio and gave him a bashful little smile. "Hi Horatio," she greeted sounding kind of embarrassed.  
  
"Hi," he replied with a small smile. "I thought I told you to go home."  
  
"You did and I was going to, but then I remembered I had to get this work done so-"  
  
Horatio cut her off by simply giving her a silencing look. He watched as Calleigh looked down at her hands, acting like a child who had just been scolded for taking a cookie before dinner. Finally, he spoke up. "I want you to go home and rest."  
  
Calleigh opened her mouth to protest, but Horatio predicted this so before she could utter a word, he bent over her, saved her work on the computer, and then shut the machine off.  
  
"No arguments," he ordered, hoping he was giving her no room to object.  
  
Calleigh didn't pleased nor swayed in the least. While she highly respected Horatio, she wasn't afraid to stand up to him either. "I really need to get that work done," she stated matter-of-factly. The truth was that she was so wiped out that she wasn't sure how she was still standing, but she really wanted to get her work done before she left or the thought of her unfinished task would bug her until she actually completed it.  
  
"It can wait," Horatio counted, determined to get his way.  
  
"Horatio!" Calleigh huffed, exasperated.  
  
"Calleigh, I could just order you to leave, but I don't want to do that," he told her. "So how about I make you a deal?"  
  
"What kind of deal?" the blonde questioned almost skeptically.  
  
Horatio gave her another small smile. "How about I take you out to dinner and then drop you home afterwards?" Calleigh smiled, letting him know that she liked the idea. He continued, "But you have to get up and leave with me right now."  
  
"What about my Jeep?" she asked, trying to hide the fact that just the thought of going out with Horatio made her heart flutter with joy.  
  
"I'll pick you up on Monday morning so you don't have to worry about driving to work."  
  
"What if I have to go somewhere during the weekend?" She was just trying to bug him by prolonging her answer to his offer and she was sure he had figured that out, but she gave him a big smile to let him know just in case.  
  
Horatio shook his head, still smiling slightly. "If there is a dire need that simply cannot wait, I will come pick you up and take you wherever you need to go, but my offer expires very soon," he said somewhat jokingly.  
  
Calleigh gave him a wry grin and cocked her head to the side as she pretended to think about it. "Dinner and a personal chauffeur or getting my work done," she pondered aloud pretending to weigh her options.  
  
Horatio just stood there, waiting patiently for her answer.  
  
After pausing a few more seconds, the blonde finally announced her decision. "Ok, I think I can handle putting this work on hold for a little while," she said, still grinning.  
  
Just as the words left her mouth, Horatio's cell phone started ringing. He gave Calleigh a 'hold on a second' motion with his hand before he unclipped his phone from his belt and answered it. "Horatio." He paused to listen to what the person on the other end was saying before replying, "All right, I'll bring Calleigh. We'll be there soon." He closed his flip-phone and looked back over at the ballistics expert.  
  
"We have a new case?" she asked already knowing by the look on Horatio's face that the answer was yes.  
  
He nodded. "Thirty year old woman found shot inside of her home."  
  
Calleigh stood up tiredly and motioned toward the door. "Let's go then."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.  
  
(PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW!!) 


	2. Weekend Off? Yeah right!

Upon arriving at the crime scene, Horatio immediately got out of the H2, but Calleigh, on the other hand, seemed frozen in her seat. She didn't even unbuckle herself. She just sat there staring at the house that had been taped off by the police. It wasn't until Horatio walked over and opened her door that she actually moved.  
  
"You ok?" he immediately asked, his concerned nearly masked by the normal calmness of his voice.  
  
"Yup, fine," she answered quickly, unbuckling her seat belt. "I was just zonin'," she said, hoping she sounded somewhat convincing.  
  
Horatio didn't exactly believe her, especially considering Calleigh wasn't the zoning type, but he decided not to push it. He simply nodded and then stepped back, giving the blonde ballistics expert room to get out of the Hummer.  
  
They both grabbed their gear and headed under the police tape. They walked up the path to the front door and then walked inside where several cops were standing. That was when Yelina Salas walked up to them. "You weren't joking when you said you'd be here soon," she commented, having thought that Horatio and his entire shift would have been home and then had to have gone back to the crime lab to get their gear, which ultimately would have caused them to arrive much later.  
  
"We were still at the lab catching up on work," Horatio stated, answering his sister-in-law's unasked questioned.  
  
"I should have known," the woman said, a wry smile on her lips.  
  
Wanting to get to business, Horatio treated Yelina with a small, reserved smile before asking, "So where is the body?"  
  
"Right this way," she replied, gesturing for the two CSIs to follow her toward the back of the house. She led them down a large hall and turned the corner into a room that was undoubtedly the kitchen.  
  
Both CSIs stopped and just stared at the scene in front of them. The walls of the kitchen were completely riddled with bullet holes, but even stranger than that was that judging by the holes and the bullet casings on the floor, more than four different weapons, all of different caliber, had been used to cause all the damage. Stepping around the island in the middle of the kitchen, they finally saw the body of the woman lying in a huge pool of blood. She too was riddled with bullets just like the walls of her kitchen.  
  
After overcoming his initial surprise, Horatio turned to Yelina and asked, "Do we have an ID on this woman yet?"  
  
Before the detective could answer, Calleigh's slightly quivering voice cut her off. "Riley McBane," she said, her eyes not straying from the body to see Horatio's perplexed look.  
  
"Excuse me?" Horatio questioned.  
  
"Her-her name is Riley McBane," Calleigh clarified before finally dragging her eyes away from the bullet riddled corpse and looked up at her boss.  
  
Horatio noticed that the blonde had tears in her eyes. He frowned, both confused and concerned. "Do you know this woman?" he asked softly.  
  
Swallowing hard, Calleigh nodded slowly as a single tear escaped down her cheek.  
  
After casting a quick glance Yelina's way letting her know he'd be back in a few minutes, Horatio took silently took Calleigh by the arm and led her out of the house. He walked her all the way to the Hummer before turning her so that she was facing him. Then, in a very careful tone, he asked, "How do you know Riley?"  
  
Calleigh looked as if she were about ready to break down into sobs. Tears were swimming in her eyes, her bottom lip was quivering, and her breathing was irregular as she tried to keep herself together. After managing to swallow down the lump in her throat, she finally found her voice and was able to reply. "Riley and I grew up together," she began to explain, her voice shaky. "She recently moved here from Louisiana with her work. She-uh-she works as a business consultant."  
  
Horatio listened to her, his face soft. "So," he began slowly, "you and Riley were friends?"  
  
Calleigh nodded in confirmation as a few more tears made their way down her cheeks. "Best friends," she said, choked up. She then looked down at the ground in an attempt to hide her tears from the man in front of her. "We're goin' –we were goin' to have lunch tomorrow afternoon," she added with a sniff.  
  
Horatio let out a slow sigh and took a step closer to Calleigh, wrapping his arms around her. He held her close for a few moments, comforting her as she continued to fight the urge to break down into sobs. Finally letting her go, he looked down at her, saying, "I'm going to call Eric and Speed and get them down here. And then I'm going to take you home."  
  
Calleigh's head shot up. "I'm not goin', Horatio. I'm gonna stay here and process this crime scene with you," she protested.  
  
"No, you're not," Horatio replied, his voice calm and commanding. "You're too involved."  
  
"That's exactly why I need to be a part of this!"  
  
"And that's exactly why I won't allow it." Horatio's features were solid. There was no way he was going to let Calleigh get more involved in this than she already was.  
  
"Horatio, please," the blonde pleaded desperately, more tears welling up in her eyes. She understood where Horatio was coming from when he said he didn't want her working on the case, but she didn't care this time. She didn't care that she was "too involved." Her childhood friend had been killed and she wanted to know why! So screw ethics! She wanted to work this scene!  
  
"I'm sorry, Calleigh," was all he said before he took his cell phone out, flipped it open, dialed a number, and then turned away from the ballistics expert.  
  
Utterly frustrated, Calleigh raked her hand through her hair and leaned up against the H2 as she listened to Horatio talk to who she now identified to be Speed. She couldn't believe he was doing this to her. She understood it, but couldn't believe it.  
  
Moments later, Horatio got off his phone and looked over at Calleigh. "Speed and Eric will be here soon. We can leave then," he said, no real emotion in his voice.  
  
Calleigh didn't say a word. She simply climbed into the H2 and shut the door. She didn't feel like talking to Horatio now.  
  
After watching her get into the vehicle, Horatio turned away and let out a rarely seen sigh. He looked around the front yard of the victim's home and began to wonder why anyone would want to kill this particular woman. Was it a random act or was it done for a reason—as twisted a reason a murderer could come up with—? Did the perp do it to get at Calleigh? Horatio frowned at that train of thought. He glanced back at her as she continued to sit in the H2 and then suddenly felt a pang of fear within his chest. What if this killer was after Calleigh?  
  
TO BE CONTINUED...  
  
(A/N: I'm sorry it's so short and that it took me forever to get up! The next installment will be here a lot sooner! I promise! REMEMBER TO REVIEW!!) 


	3. Comfort

It didn't take long for Eric and Speed to arrive. Immediately after they stepped out of the H2 they had been driving, Horatio noted the less than thrilled expressions on their faces. He didn't need to guess to know that the reason they had those looks on their faces was because they weren't happy to be there. Who could blame them though? They had just gotten home with the promise of the weekend off and then suddenly they get a call that they're needed at a crime scene. It was simply Murphy's Law at work.  
  
"So, I presume you have an absurdly good reason as to why you dragged us down here, right H?" Speed questioned somewhat grumpily as soon as he and Delko walked up to Horatio.  
  
The lieutenant's face showed no sign of emotion as he replied, "This is your job. You go where the crimes are. Isn't that a good enough reason?"  
  
"Normally, yes," Eric said, "But this time it's a bit different."  
  
"Please enlighten me," Horatio said almost dryly.  
  
Speed and Eric looked at each other, both getting the feeling that something was up with their boss. "It's just that," Delko began gradually, "you gave us-or more like forced us to take the weekend off, H, and now you have to have us here. I mean, well, it's not like you couldn't have just passed this case off to the next shift."  
  
Speed slowly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, so it's kinda giving us the feeling that something more is going on here," he stated. "So, would you care to fill us in on the importance of this crime scene?"  
  
Horatio paused a moment before answering them. "No, I wouldn't care to fill you in," he said causing both Speed and Eric's face to drop, "but I will since the information is somewhat relevant to the case." He paused again purposely, trying to think of the exact words to say. "The reason I called you two down here is because the victim in a good friend of Calleigh's."  
  
Tim and Eric both looked completely aghast at the news,  
  
"Oh my God," Delko said, seemingly dismayed. "Did you call her? Does she know?" he asked, obviously to the fact that Calleigh was actually there.  
  
Horatio nodded slowly. "Yes, she knows," he replied before glancing over at the Hummer he and Calleigh had brought. "She came with me to the scene."  
  
The men followed his gaze and saw the blonde woman sitting in the vehicle looking positively...broken.  
  
"Did she see her friend-her friend's body?" Eric asked, his tone and features concerned.  
  
Horatio nodded sullenly. "Yes, she didn't tell me she knew the victim until we went inside," he replied before glancing back at Calleigh again to make sure she was till where he had left her.  
  
"Ok, well we'll get to work," Speed said upon noticing the hidden look of near-desperation on Horatio's face to get back to the woman in the Hummer. "Come on, Eric."  
  
Delko gave him a questioning look, but Speed only shook his head, silently telling the younger man not to ask questions.  
  
"We'll see you later, H," Tim said before dropping his voice to a whisper, saying, "Take care of Calleigh."  
  
Horatio nodded and then three men went their separate ways.  
  
Walking back over to the H2, Horatio opened the driver's side door and got inside. He sat there for a moment, staring out of the windshield. Finally he spoke up. "Speed and Eric will do a good job." He cringed inwardly at how lame his weak attempt at assurance sounded.  
  
"Just drive, Horatio," Calleigh said very softly before she turned her head away from the lieutenant and stared out the window.  
  
Horatio frowned slightly before he started the engine and pulled out onto the street.  
  
The whole ride to Calleigh's condo was done in complete silence. Both occupants of the vehicle had been in such deep thought, or shock in Calleigh's case, that neither could say anything. Slowing the H2 down, Horatio pulled it over to the side of the rode and then turned the engine off. Getting out, he walked over to Calleigh's side and opened the door for her. "Come on," he said softly, stepping back so the blonde could get out.  
  
Calleigh moved slowly as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the H2. It looked as if she were in some sort of trance, but Horatio knew in was actually the shock of seeing her friend dead that was making the usually energetic and peppy blonde seem like a robot on autopilot. They slowly moved to her front door and just stood there.  
  
Horatio looked down at Calleigh who was just staring at the door. He thought about reminding her to unlock it so they could go in, but decided against it. Instead he pulled out his own keys and flipped through them looking for the front door key Calleigh had given him in case of emergencies. Finding it, he put it in the lock and turned it, unlocking the door. He pushed it open and watched as Calleigh slowly walked inside. He followed her in and closed the door behind them.  
  
Calleigh looked around her living room, a glazed expression across her face. "I'm- I'm gonna go in my room...to change...or something," she said slowly, pausing a few moments before heading down the hall to her bedroom.  
  
Horatio watched her go before sighing. This wasn't going well at all. He could only speculate what was going though the ballistic expert's mind. It was painfully obvious that the murder of Riley McBane was hitting Calleigh very hard. Horatio was glad he had held his ground against her wanting to work the scene because it was easy to see now that she wouldn't have been able to do it.  
  
Heading into the little kitchen, he looked around in the cabinets for some mugs to put tea in. He had only been to her condo a few times before, but only to drop her off. He had never been inside before.  
  
He finally located her mugs and pulled two out. He smirked slightly when he noticed that the one in his left hand had a picture of a Beretta with the saying "Gun Control is Being Able to Hit Your Target" on it. Typical Calleigh. He placed them on the counter and then filled the kettle with water. That task complete, he started to heat the water while searching for the tea bags.  
  
In her room, Calleigh sat on the edge of her bed, deep in her extremely troubled thoughts. She couldn't believe Riley was dead. She had just talked to her friend on the phone the night before and now she was gone. Dead. Murdered.  
  
She couldn't get the image of Riley's lifeless body, completely riddled with bullets, out of her mind. She had known Riley since she had been three. They had grown up together, shared secrets together, had an unbreakable friendship together...but now she was gone.  
  
Tears stung at Calleigh's eyes as she began to remember all the good times she and Riley had shared. "She can't be dead," she whimpered softly to herself, still in disbelief. A few tears escaped her eyes before she finally covered her face with her hands. She couldn't hold it in anymore. She started crying.  
  
With the tea now made, Horatio picked up both mugs and headed down the hall to find Calleigh. Being that he had never been in her condo before, he wasn't exactly sure which door was the entrance to her room. So he stopped a moment to listen, hoping to be able to find the correct room by following any noise Calleigh was making, but that's when he heard it. He heard his beloved ballistic expert's muffled crying.  
  
He followed the sound to the last door on the left. He paused a moment to listen before he knocked softly and then opened the door. His heart suddenly broke when he saw Calleigh sitting there, still in her work clothes, sobbing into her hands. He had never seen her like this before. He had never seen her looking so small and helpless.  
  
Horatio set the two mugs of tea down on one of the side tables in Calleigh's room before he moved slowly, almost hesitantly, over to her. He had dealt with many grieving people before, but this was different. The people he had dealt with before hadn't captured his heart like Calleigh had. And while he usually had the perfect words to comfort all the others, he was at a loss for words now.  
  
He wanted nothing more than to gather Calleigh into his arms and tell her that everything would be ok, that he'd protect her, but he was so afraid that she'd pull away, reject him, that he just couldn't seem to do it. He loved her, he knew that, and he desperately wanted to help her, but she was so fragile at the moment that he figured any comfort he tried to offer by means of physical contact would do nothing more than worsen the situation.  
  
"Calleigh," he whispered softly as he kneeled down in front of her. Even if he couldn't hold her in his arms, he was going to try to help her some way.  
  
Calleigh just shook her head, not removing her face from her hands. She just couldn't bring herself to actually look at Horatio. She didn't want to seem weak in front of him. She didn't want to disappoint him.  
  
"Please Calleigh," Horatio begged. "Look at me."  
  
She shook her head again, sniffing loudly.  
  
"Please, honey, please look at me. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Horatio knew the reason she wouldn't was because she had spent so much time proving to everyone that she could handle anything and she didn't want to make, most of all, him think otherwise. "Just look at me, Calleigh. Please."  
  
Hearing the desperation in his voice, Calleigh finally lifted her head from her hands and gazed at him with tear-filled eyes.  
  
The look of utter anguish on the blonde's face spurred Horatio to do what he wanted more than anything to do, but vowed he wouldn't in fear that he would make things worse. He leaned forward and pulled Calleigh into his arms.  
  
Calleigh didn't do a thing for a moment until her brain finally registered what was going on, but as soon as she realized, she immediately wrapped her arms around Horatio and held onto him for dear life as she started crying hysterically into his chest.  
  
Her cries soon became heaving sobs so in an effort to calm her down, Horatio pulled her into his lap on the floor and cradled her in his arms. He gently rocked her and whispered soothing things in her ear as he held her close to him.  
  
Eventually, sometime later, Calleigh finally calmed down and just sat there in his lap with her head resting on his shoulder. Now that her hysteria has subsided, the fact that she was in Horatio Caine's arms, sitting in his lap, and listening to his soothing voice soothing voice finally dawned on her. She smiled slightly despite the despair she was feeling due to Riley's death. She was being held by the man she loved. It was simply too good to be true.  
  
Horatio looked down at the woman in his arms and gave her one of his small, reserved smiles. He gently brushed an errant strand of blonde hair out of her face and placed it behind her ear in a tender gesture of his affection for her that he usually hid so well. It actually surprised him when she leaned into his touch.  
  
"Horatio?" she whispered softly.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
(I hope y'all liked this chapter! Sorry it took me so long to get it up. Remember to review! LOL! I want to give a shout out to everyone at the CSI: Miami – Horatio & Calleigh yahoo group!!! Hgirl, Marianne, Lorelei, Dylan, Deb, Karen, Mel, Sarahliz, Emma, Lanah, EVERYONE, y'all ROCK!!!! I'm so honored to be apart of the best yahoo group EVER CREATED!!! I love you guys!!! H/C 4 LIFE!! ~ (one of your newbies!) Emily) 


	4. Bad to Worse

CHAPTER 4  
  
Speed and Eric had spent hours processing the Riley McBane crime scene. After Alexx had come and taken the body away, they went room by room collecting every single piece of evidence they could find. It wasn't unusual for them all to give over 100% on the job, but this had been Calleigh's friend so now they were even more determined. If anyone would solve this case, it was them.  
  
Once all the evidence had been collected, the two men headed back to the lab to begin piecing everything together. After parking the H2, they got out and headed toward the door.  
  
"Oh! I forgot something in the hummer," Eric suddenly announced out of the blue, stopping mid-stride.  
  
Speed looked over at him, his face as detached as ever. He tossed Eric the keys and then said, "It better not be evidence."  
  
"It's not," the other man replied, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. As if he'd be stupid enough to leave evidence unattended while working such a big and important case. "I just forgot my sunglasses."  
  
"Ah yes, and the world shall fall to pieces if the young Eric Delko doesn't have his sunglasses while INSIDE the lab," Speed muttered sardonically as he turned and continued on his way to the door while Eric headed back to the H2.  
  
He was almost to the door when he suddenly heard the sound of something metal falling on the pavement. He turned his head and looked around, but didn't see anything. He was about to forget about it and go inside when he again heard something. Only this time, it sounded more like metal clanking against metal. He frowned and decided to investigate the noise.  
  
He walked around several cars and turned the corner around one of the pillars in the crime lab garage until he laid his eyes upon Calleigh's yellow Jeep Wrangler. He immediately quickened his pace toward the vehicle when he noticed movement underneath it. "Excuse me," he said, announcing his presence as he reached the back of the Jeep. The movement underneath stilled.  
  
A feeling of unease suddenly washed over Speed. He unsnapped the strap holding his gun in its holster and placed his hand on the butt of it. "Please come out from underneath the vehicle," he said, his tone stern. Whoever was under the Jeep didn't seem to want to listen. "I repeat: please come out from underneath the vehicle."  
  
Just as the words were out of his mouth, a man quickly rolled out from under Calleigh's Wrangler and whipped out a Beretta, shooting Tim in the chest before he had time to react.  
  
Breath caught in Speed's throat and agonizing pain spread throughout his body like a fire. He slowly looked down at himself to see the gaping hole that the bullet had made. His legs went numb and he dropped to his knees, his body limp, before he simply fell over onto the pavement.  
  
As he lied there, he could feel his life draining away from him as his blood, his life-force, flowed out of the wound. Blackness began to cloud his vision and just before he lost consciousness, the man who had shot him stood over him, a nefarious grin on his face. And then there was nothing.  
  
Eric was just about to go inside when he suddenly heard the gun shot. His eyes went wide and he immediately pulled out his own weapon. He placed his crime scene kit down on the pavement and quickly began weaving through the cars in the parking lot trying to find the source of the shot. Suddenly, as he went around the pillar, he saw him. He saw Speed lying face down on the ground, a large puddle of blood surrounding him.  
  
"Oh God," Eric gasped as he ran toward his downed companion. He was about ten feet from Speed when all of a sudden a car peeled out from a parking space perpendicular to where he was and sped toward him. He had no time to get out of the way when the black SUV slammed into him, sending him flying up onto the windshield. The vehicle made a sharp turn to the right causing Eric to slide off the hood and onto the pavement. The last thing that his brain registered before he lost consciousness was the sound of the SUV leaving the parking garage. And then there was blackness.  
  
Calleigh and Horatio had been sitting in a companionable silence on the floor of her bedroom for some time. They were both leaning back with their backs against her bed, legs stretched out in front of them. Calleigh was leaning her head on Horatio's shoulder while he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders. They had always seemed to have a silent communication. Certain looks, touches, expressions that only they knew how to interpret.  
  
After several long minutes, Calleigh suddenly spoke up. "I want a kitten," she stated softly.  
  
Horatio smirked at her abruptness and then tilted his head to look down at the blonde. "A kitten, hmm?"  
  
She nodded. "Yeah, a little white, fluffy one." She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.  
  
"So," Horatio began, moving slightly to make both of them a bit more comfortable, "if you were to get this little white, fluffy kitten, what would you name it?"  
  
"Well, if I were to get one, I would want a little girl." She snuggled up to Horatio a bit more. "And I think I would call her Daisy," she replied. "But that's if I ever got one, which I probably won't because I work so much and I wouldn't want to leave her alone all the time because that wouldn't be fair to her. Plus there's also the matter of food and water and her litter. I mean, I could get her food and water dispensers and get one of those self-cleaning litter boxes, but she might also scratch my furni—" She looked up again to see Horatio staring at her with an amused smirk on his face. "And I'm rambling." She blushed.  
  
Before Horatio could say anything, his cell phone started ringing. He frowned slightly and looked down at the object on his belt before he reluctantly reached for it. Flipping it open, he brought it to his ear and said, "Caine."  
  
Calleigh sat up straight and turned her body toward Horatio so that she could observe him as he talked on the phone. She immediately frowned as she watched his features contort with what she figured was concern...No, more like worry.  
  
Horatio looked over at her and into her questioning eyes before he held up his free hand, the one that he had slipped off of Calleigh's shoulders when he had got the call, and lifted up a finger, motioning for her to hold on. "Whoa, whoa, Alexx calm now," he said into the phone, he brow knitting together. "Explain it to me again." He cast Calleigh an uneasy glance. "Both of them?" There was a pause and then, "Ok, we're on our way." He flipped the phone shut and quickly stood up, pulling Calleigh with him.  
  
"What's wrong, Horatio?" This was one of those times when their silent language was off the charts because Calleigh didn't even need to look at him to know that something wasn't right. She could just feel it.  
  
"I'll tell you in the car, but we have to go right now," he said, his normally cool exterior suddenly replaced by one that Calleigh rarely ever saw. It was fear.  
  
She nodded quickly and then followed him out to the H2. Once they had climbed inside, Horatio peeled out onto street. There was a silence in the vehicle for a few long moments before he finally spoke. "Speed and Eric are in the hospital."  
  
Calleigh's eyes went huge. "What?" she gasped, "Why?"  
  
Horatio released a slow breath and then glanced over at her. "Alexx said that they were both found in the parking garage at the lab, and," he paused a moment, "and that Speed has been shot in the chest and Eric was hit by a car."  
  
Calleigh was completely silent, utterly shocked by the news. First Riley and now the boys? What was going on?

(A/N: More is coming very soon! I actually now know where I'm going with this story so you won't have to wait for me to get past my writers block! WOO! Remember to **REVIEW**!)


	5. News of the Worst Kind

CHAPTER 5

The arrival at the hospital had been hectic to say the least. After parking, both Horatio and Calleigh had rushed inside only to find out that none of the nurses seemed to know what was going on. They were instructed to go to the waiting room which, very reluctantly, they did. As soon as they walked into the room, they spotted Alexx sitting in one of the chairs, tissues in her hands, staring out at nothing and looking positively distraught.

Calleigh immediately walked over to Alexx and sat next to her, hugging the other woman. They both started crying softly.

Horatio, trying to be the collected one, slowly moved in front of the two women and then kneeled. "Alexx, Sweetheart, have the doctors told you anything yet?" he asked calmly.

Pulling away from Calleigh, she shook her head while wiping her eyes with the balled up tissues she had in her hand. "No," she said followed by a sniff. "I was just checking my messages at the front desk and one of the lab techs came running in saying that someone was hurt," she began to explain, more tears falling. "By the time I got out there, they were both unconscious. They weren't moving and I-I thought they were dead."

Horatio took one of her hands into his and squeezed it gently. "It's all right."

She sniffed and then shook her head. "No, it's not, Horatio. They were both hurt really badly. Tim had lost so much blood by the time I got out there. I just-I couldn't do a thing except wait for the ambulance."

"It's ok, Alexx," Horatio assured her, "You did good."

Letting out a shuddering sigh, the woman nodded slowly and then leaned back in her chair. She knew that because of the extent of the damage to both men, they would be waiting a long time. "I'm-I'm gonna go get a cup of coffee. Would either of you like anything?" she asked.

"A coffee would be great, Alexx," Horatio replied, thinking that maybe if she was kept somewhat occupied, she would worry so much and be so upset.

"Anything in it?" she asked, but he shook his head no. She looked over at Calleigh, "What about you, honey?"

Calleigh gave her a small smile and then shook her head. "No, thank you, Alexx."

The older woman nodded and then ventured off to find the coffee machine.

Once she had left, Horatio took a seat next to Calleigh. After a few long moments of silence, he turned his head toward her and studied her troubled features for a little bit before asking, "You going to be ok?"

She looked up at him and attempted to muster up a big smile for him, but it really only came out as half of one. "If they come out and tell us that Tim and Eric are gonna be ok, then yeah."

Horatio's face was solemn. "And what if they don't?"

Calleigh's face dropped and she had to turn her head away from him to keep from crying. She let out a long shuddering sigh. Then she swallowed hard, trying to get the lump in her throat to go down, and when it finally receded far enough down her throat for her to speak, all she could say was "I don't know."

Instinctively, Horatio reached over, wrapped his arm around Calleigh's shoulders, and then pulled her to him. Once she had rested her head in the crook where his collarbone and neck met, he wrapped his other arm around her and just held her. He tried to tell himself that he would do the same with anyone, but he knew that wasn't the truth. Calleigh was different...special, and though he couldn't admit it to anyone, his feelings for her were a lot more complicated and serious than just the supervisor-employee relationship everyone else saw.

Hours later, long after Alexx had returned with the coffee and after Calleigh had fallen asleep against Horatio, the doctor finally came out. The man walked straight over to them and asked, "Are you all here for Tim Speedle and Eric Delko?"

Though he didn't want to, Horatio gently shook Calleigh awake and then nodded to the doctor. "Yes, I'm Lieutenant Horatio Caine. This is Alexx Woods and Calleigh Duquesne."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Kenneth O'Malley." He shook all of their hands and then sat down in a chair across from theirs.

"What news do you have for us, Doctor?" Horatio asked, getting right to the point.

The doctor took a deep breath and then said, "Well, I have some good news, some bad news,...and some worse news."

Horatio felt Calleigh slip one of her hands into his and he squeezed it gently before nodding to O'Malley. "All right."

"Ok, well first the good news is that they're both alive." All three of them released sighs of relief. "The bad news is that they're both in the ICU in bad shape"

Horatio felt Calleigh's hand tighten and he glanced over at her to see her staring at the doctor, looking about ready to have another breakdown. He turned his head back to the doctor and then asked, "And what's the worse news?"

The doctor paused a moment before replying. "Mr. Speedle ended up with a traumatic pneumothorax do to the bullet puncturing his lung." Not realizing that as CSIs they all knew what he was talking about, he quickly explained, "That's a collapsed lung." Calleigh gasped quietly and brought her free hand to her lips. The doctor continued, "He lost a whole lot of blood, and while we could repair the damage to his lung and transfuse him, he was still without enough blood to feed his brain oxygen for quite a long time before the paramedics made it there and then to the hospital,...and he ended up slipping into a coma."

Horatio heard Calleigh start crying beside him on his left while Alexx, who was sitting on his right, seemed to have stopped breathing. Trying to be the strong one, he took a deep breath and then asked, "Do," he paused, "Do you expect him to come out of it?"

O'Malley stared at Horatio for a moment before dropping his gaze. "I'm not really sure. A good percentage of these types of coma patients come out of it rather quickly, within a few days to a couple of weeks, but you can never really know."

Horatio nodded. "All right."

"When can we seem them?" Calleigh asked, her voice small and quivering.

The doctor turned his attention to her. "Not until at least tomorrow. They need a lot of rest, but I'll be sure to have someone call you all if anything at all changes with either of them."

Horatio nodded again. "Okay." He knew Calleigh wanted to protest, but he also knew it would do no good. Even if they claimed they needed to see Speed and Eric because they were now part of an investigation, the doctors still wouldn't let them see the two injured men. He had been through this before and knew it was best to wait at least a day before putting on the pressure.

"We're still going to need their clothes and personal belongings," he said, his tone expressing nothing but totally seriousness. He had snapped into CSI mode. If their clothes had evidence on them that could lead them to the culprits, they would find it.

"Yes, of course," O'Malley replied. "I'll have one of the nurses bring it all out to you right away."

Horatio reached forward and shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you, Doctor."

After Horatio, O'Malley shook Alexx's hand and then nodded to Calleigh. "You folks have a nice day." He then walked off.

"Have a nice day?" Calleigh said incredulously as soon as he was out of site. She narrowed her eyes, sending death glares in the direction the doctor had headed before she looked over at Horatio and Alexx. "How can we possibly have a NICE DAY with Tim and Eric here and us not even bein' able to see them?!" she exclaimed. She knew from the start just as well as everyone else that the doctors weren't going to let them see the boys, but that still didn't stop her from being upset about it.

Hardly alarmed by her outburst, Alexx just looked at the blonde sadly and then shook her head, saying, "Ya got me, honey. Ya got me."

Horatio sighed quietly. "All right, well we aren't going to do them any good staying here. We have to find out who did this to them."

Calleigh just stared at the floor while Alexx turned her attention to Horatio and nodded in agreement. "I'm gonna go back to the lab," she said. "I have some...work I need to finish."

Calleigh's head shot up and a pained expression passed over her face. She knew that Alexx was talking about the autopsy she still had to perform on Riley McBane. She stared at the other woman for a moment before frowning and dropping her gaze to the floor again.

Horatio nodded. "All right, Alexx. We'll collect what we need from here and then see you back there."

The woman returned the nod. She cast Horatio a sad smile and then squeezed Calleigh's arm before heading out.

Horatio and Calleigh waited for a few minutes before the nurse finally came out to give them Speed and Eric's belongings.

"I also placed the bullet the doctors retrieved from Mr. Speedle's lung in there as well," she said, handing everything over to the lieutenant.

The man nodded solemnly and thanked her before he and Calleigh headed back to the lab.

(A/N: Yes, by all means, kill me now. I know this took forever and a year to get up and I apologize, especially since it's so short and rather boring. Anywho, more should be up soon...hopefully. Remember to **REVIEW**!)


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